


The Lindworm

by Rook_Rabble



Category: Danish Folklore - Fandom
Genre: Blood, Bull - Freeform, Giant Snake, Horn vs Fang, No knight in shiny armor this time, Norse Mythology - Freeform, Serpent, brevery, dragon - Freeform, medieval Denmark, scared towns people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 08:47:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20189512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rook_Rabble/pseuds/Rook_Rabble
Summary: The Lindorm is the Danish dragon, long before the European dragon we know today. The Lindorm has stretched from the Nordic folk tales about Nidhug under the roots of Yggdrasil, to the Jormungandr in the world's seas, and now to the Danish Middle Ages, where it waits in the earth, to the day it no longer does.





	1. A worm rises and walls are falling

**Author's Note:**

> Phases with underline _____________ are my comments on the situation

Lindorm 

The Lindorm or ''Lind-worm in English'' was a dangerous and terrifying dragon-like giant serpent. It was very greedy and not only that it ate horses, cows and sheep, it also killed and swallowed people. Lind-worm often settled down at churches, but they could also live in hills, under farms and in forests. Lind-worm has varying appearance. Some are pale green, scaly and with few, rigid hairs. Other lind-worms are dark in color. Some lind-worms had small short legs. '' Lind '' is an old Danish word for snake, and since the Middle Ages '' worm=orm '' was still seen as a snake. In the Scandic it's always the Lind-worm. In England it's called the wyvern. Now it decorates the Coat of arms of Bornholm.

Falling walls 

If a Lind-worm settled down at a church, it became a great nuisance to the parish, because as long as it stayed there, of course, no man comes to church. In addition, it could devastate and overthrow the church. Even a small lind-worm could with a stroke with its tail cause the trick walls of the church to crack, and if it became so long that it could reach around the church and bite itself in the tail, it could topple it all. And lind-worms were often large and very long. It is said that at the Hørdum Church in Thy once lived a Lind-worm that could reach seven times around the church and bite itself in the tail. ''I hope you had insurance papers back then, otherwise the verge of bankruptcy is just around the corner''

Lind-worms comes to the world in a horrific way. They are hatched like larvae in hazelnuts, but only become lind-worms when the nut is eaten by a human. If the little worm gets in unharmed in the gut, it lives there. It grew rapidly and feds on the food that human should have benefited from. Therefore, the human came to look miserable and rebuked. The worm eventually became so big that it kills the human by stopping his heart. After the funeral, it lived on from the corpse, and when it was consumed, it dug through the earth to other bodies, as it also ate. Thus, it continued for a long time until one day it appeared up from the ground. ''In our cemetery, we just deals with wild rabbits''


	2. A legend in bronz and granit / A Brave Bull

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phases with underline ____________ are my comments.
> 
> He roars fiercely and charges into the fray, he stands his ground afraid of nothing, he doesn’t shy away from the rapier, in furious snorting he paws up the ground, he can not stand still, when the serpent roaming freely around.

**A horned savior**

It was both difficult and very dangerous to fight lind-worms, since neither iron swords, arrows nor bullets were particularly effective against the lind-worm's thick skin, that other methods had to be used. But who should have thought that the only beast that could stand up to the might of the Lind-worm was a being of: endurance, strength and bravery, the Bull!

The story of the brave bull has probably given the idea to the dragon fountain made of bronze and granit at the City Hall Square in Copenhagen. 

**A Brave Bull**

Many years ago, a lind-worm had arrived at Hvidbjerg Church, which is located at Thyholm. Everyone knew how dangerous such a lind-worm could be. And one feared that it would be so great that it could overthrow the church. It had to be killed, but no one had the courage to go in and fight the lind-worm. The people were advised that they should together feed a newborn bull calf with freshly milked milk for three years. ''it must have been one chubby calf'' Then the bull calf would become so strong that it would be able to battle the lind-worm. They agreed to try. They got hold of a black newborn bull calf, and for three years the people of Hvidberg delivered fresh milk to it. When the three years had passed, it was the biggest and strongest bull ever seen at Thyholm. The bull had shown its strength as it split a granite stone in half. Then came the day when the bull had to fight the lind-worm, which had grown even bigger. It was taken up to the church. The church gate was opened and the bull was shut in. The people from the whole parish had come to church that day. They stood outside and listened to hear what happened. There was a bull's roar and a snake's whisper, and one could hear the animals tumble around in there. The whole church shook. Suddenly there was quite quiet in there. However, no one dared to open the door, but a couple of the bravest crawled up the window and looked in. It was a terrible sight that met them. In the middle of the floor, both the lind-worm and the bull lay bathed in blood. Both were dead. Now in a hurry, they got the church doors open and dragged the dead bodies out. The bull was buried right inside the church gate where it's spirit could continue to protect the church''There are cause for celebration, with brave bull Tequila all around!!''. But the lind-worm was dragged down to the fjord and sailed over to a small island in Langeland. It was buried there, and the island has since been called Lindø. ''snake island''


End file.
